The economic climate and demographic shifts around the globe have pushed the work of William Hsiao, the K.T. Li professor of economics at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), to the forefront of international health policy, impacting millions of lives around the world. Hsiao was profiled in a December 7, 2011 article in the Harvard Crimson.

Hsiao is one of the world’s leading experts on designing health care systems. He has worked with about a dozen nations, analyzing and implementing single-payer universal health care systems. The single-payer health care system is designed to provide health care to all citizens through a single, publicly-financed insurance fund with uniform coverage and rates.

Last year Vermont legislators asked Hsiao to study health reform options for the state. His analysis became the basis for House Bill 202, making Vermont the first state to enact a single-payer health system earlier this year. Some advocates hope the Vermont health reform effort will be an example for other states.